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Friday, August 21, 2015

There's nothing Swachh about Delhi: Striking workers have been paid, but still the rubbish piles up across the Capital : dailymail.co.uk

Even as the issue of non-payment of salaries to MCD sanitation workers has been resolved, garbage continues to pile up on the streets of the national Capital.

The dirty streets of Delhi dwarf civic agencies’ tall claims of keeping the garbage off the streets, be it posh localities or slums.

Residents often complain that garbage dumps lie unattended for days. When they try to bring up the matter with MCD councillors, their requests often go unheeded.

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Mail Today visited various parts of the city under the jurisdiction of the three corporations and found huge heaps of garbage outside the collection points.

For a reality check, Mail Today visited various parts of the city under the jurisdiction of the three corporations and found huge heaps of garbage outside the collection points.

“The garbage collection points have been constructed right next to residential areas. Therefore, if the garbage is not lifted every day the smell emanating from it makes it difficult to even cross the lane,” said Bansi Lal, president, welfare society, Saket.

The main road in front of the Max Super Specialty Hospital and Saket City Hospital is nothing less than an open dumping ground.

“The filth almost covers the one side of the road. Scavenger birds can be seen hovering over the garbage. The city’s premium hospitals are located here and many foreign nationals come here for medical treatment. Is this is what we are showing to our tourists?” he asked.

Residents in East Delhi shared the same plight.

“We have two garbage collection points right in the middle of the residential area. One dhalao (waste dumping enclosure) is next to a house and the other one is near a school. The dhalao is always overflowing with the garbage and often garbage is strewn on streets.

“In worst cases, the garbage is right in front of the main gates of houses. The sight is horrible and pathetic. We cannot even cross the lane. I wonder how families sharing the lane with the garbage collection point manage,” said BS Vohra of East Delhi RWAs Joint Front Federation.

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Garbage strewn on road no 57, Krishna Nagar, New Delhi

Vohra also said that the residents had been asking the MCD councillor to shift the location of the dhalao to an open dumping yard on the road number 57 and ensure that the residents living around inhale fresh air instead of the smell from the garbage.

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Umesh Gulati, a resident in Janakpuri, laments: “Pankha road has turned into an open dumping ground for the whole of Janakpuri.”

Interestingly, the North Municipal Corporation has blamed the rag-pickers and their method of garbage segregation for the mess.

Ravinder Gupta, Mayor, North Delhi Municipal Corporation, said: “The main reason why most of the garbage is found lying outside the collection point is because ragpickers while segregating the waste spill the garbage. Segregation of garbage should be banned at collection points. The segregation should be done either during door-todoor collection or at the waste processing unit.”

Mukesh Goyal, leader of the Opposition in North MCD, said: “The corporation does not have enough resources to look at the poor sanitation scenario. It is high time fresh tenders for sanitation contract were issued but the party in power is just extending the previous contract after every six months. Poor sanitation is the main reason why highest maximum cases of dengue are in the jurisdiction of the NDMC.”

Even the Delhi High Court pulled up the three MCDs for not maintaining cleanliness in the city. After ordering the South Delhi Municipal Corporation to clean up the Lajpat Nagar Central market area, the Delhi High Court recently asked the East Delhi Municipal Corporation and North Delhi Municipal Corporation to clean up Patparganj and the western extension area of Karol Bagh respectively.

The court directed the civic bodies to keep clean the two areas and to file a status report with pictures on the next date of hearing on September 23.

Civic agencies claim they are doing their bit

By Sneha Agrawal in New Delhi

As complaints of garbage lying unattended in the Capital reached the civic municipal corporations' doors, all the three civic agencies claimed to have taken a slew of measures to curb the problem.

The steps include commissioning new waste-to-energy and construction and debris waste plants (that recycle construction waste), installing dustbins with lids, and lifting garbage from the collection point twice a day.

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Blaming the Delhi government for not implementing sanitation by-laws that impose a ban on littering, Subhash Arya, Mayor, South Delhi Municipal Corporation, said: “A proposal was sent to the Delhi government to increase the fines on littering but it is still sitting on the proposal. However till then, we are going to install 500 to 1,000 closed bins and deploy manpower to guard them round the clock. The garbage will be picked up twice a day from dhalaos and we are currently working on the zone-wise integration waste management plan. We have already declared tender for two construction and debris waste plant in Dwarka and Ghumanera.

“We shall also issue fresh tenders and invite more companies to take up the sanitation work and make our sanitation contracts more stringent that will compel the contractors to work and not dilly-dally lifting of the garbage. At present, every contractor is fined above Rs 1 crore for not abiding by the contract. The previous sanitation contracts need serious revision. We shall also increase the visibility clause in the contract,” said an MCD official.

Besides, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation is focusing on its own waste to energy plant in Narela Bawana.

“At the moment the waste generated in the NDMC area gets processed in the SDMC’s Okhla waste-to-energy plant. Once the clearances are taken, our majority of waste will be treated in our plant. We have initiated composting units in three parks of the NDMC that will together process 200 million tonnes of horticulture waste. Our construction and debris waste plant is processing 500 million tonnes of waste in Jahangirpuri on Shah Alam Bandh Marg and the efficiency is very high,” said Ravinder Gupta, Mayor, North Delhi Municipal Corporation.

The prime focus of the East Delhi Corporation will be to initiate its waste-to-energy plant in Ghazipur that will process 1,200 million tonnes waste and construction and debris waste in Shastri Park with a capacity of 500 million tonnes.